TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Union Declares Impasse With City

ADVERTISEMENT

By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

cwade@tampatrib.com

Published: November 1, 2008

TAMPA - They asked for a longer contract and higher wages, but the city wouldn't budge.

So now the city's largest trade union is declaring an impasse in negotiations with Mayor Pam Iorio's collective bargaining team and is asking that a mediator be brought in.

"The city hasn't been negotiating in good faith so we're requesting mediation," Martha Stevens, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union's Local 1464 said Friday.

The ATU represents about 2,000 blue-collar, technical and clerical workers who have been working without a contract since Sept. 30. The union's membership rejected a proposed contract on Sept. 29 that included a 3 percent merit increase and a 3.5 percent cost-of-living increase. The union had urged members to vote against the deal.
Union officials are pushing for a three-year deal, but city officials want to go year-by-year because of concerns about declining property taxes and other funding sources.
City officials involved in the negotiations couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

If a mediator can't resolve the impasse, the proposed contract could be decided by the city council. Council members in August approved a contract with firefighters after that union and the mayor's office couldn't reach a deal. Iorio had warned that the vote on the firefighter contract would embolden other unions.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT